After most of the cameras cleared out and the notebooks had moved on, Chatter asked Texas coach Mack Brown a big question that seemed not to interest most of the assembled literati. Where does he think Texas belongs in the first BCS standings scheduled to be released this afternoon?

Brown didn't hesitate. He didn't say "let's wait until today's games are all wrapped up." He didn't say that's not for him to say. Brown jumped right in with a response.

"I would think we belong No. 2," said the coach of the 6-0 Longhorns.

Chatter figures that would have been right behind the Florida Gators, who overcame a difficult test in beating Arkansas, 23-20. And that would have been ahead of undefeated Alabama, who had not even taken the field against South Carolina. And it would have been ahead of Virginia Tech, which despite having lost a game earlier in the season, would have been ahead of the Longhorns had the BCS standings come out Saturday morning, according to ESPN.

We'll just point out that Texas beat Colorado last week and dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll. Could it be that a victory over Oklahoma will send the Longhorns plummeting further? There doesn't seem to be much respect for the Big 12 around the country these days. And let's face it. Saturday's nationally televised 16-13 win wasn't exactly an artistic masterpiece.

On the other hand, maybe the BCS should have Texas in the top two today. It owes the Longhorns from last year, doesn't it?

Brown's final words on the subject: "We're not as excited about the system as some people."

Picks click: Lee Corso's three-game Texas-OU losing streak came to an end with the Longhorns' victory. ESPN's College GameDay prognosticator had missed picking the winner of the last three Cotton Bowl meetings before snapping his slump by astutely picking undefeated Texas to beat twice-beaten Oklahoma. Whew. And kudos to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who sitting in as GameDay's guest picker, also picked the Longhorns. His reasoning? The team with the fewest turnovers would win. How prescient. Oklahoma had five, Texas (all Colt McCoy) had three.

Top gun: What's this? The best quarterback on the Longhorns' pregame sideline was not Colt McCoy but rather another Colt. But not a Colt by birth. Peyton Manning, with the weekend off from the Indianapolis Colts, was on the field. Chatter can assume that Manning also spent some moments on the Sooners' sideline. After all, both McCoy and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford were counselors last summer at Manning's elite passing academy at Louisiana's Nicholls State University.

Pain reliever: While lots of the early postgame news conference medical chatter centered on Bradford's damaged right shoulder, Brown was quick to volunteer McCoy hadn't been feeling well in the days leading up to the game. Brown also pointed out McCoy hurt his right thumb early in the game. In Chatterland, that is called "Heisman Damage Control." ... Congrats to ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters, who got a real response to a real question at halftime. She asked Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops if Bradford would return for the second half. "I don't believe that'll happen," the coach said. Chatter can only imagine how Texas Tech coach Mike Leach would have responded to such a straightforward question.